Introduction
The purpose of this research study was to investigate the extent to which Visual Arts is taught in primary schools and how students transfer this knowledge to Visual Arts in secondary school. A deficit in Year 8 Visual Arts skills was identified by the researcher, drawn from her own experiences in the secondary classroom environment as a Visual Arts specialist teacher. With the movement of Year 7 students from primary schools into secondary schools in 2015, the focus of the research was on how Year 7 students coped with the transition to a secondary school Visual Arts classroom, and how much they retained the skills they had been exposed to in a primary Visual Arts context. This skill acquisition may have been attained from a Visual Arts specialist teacher in the school or from the generalist classroom teacher.
Since it has been mandated that Visual Arts be taught in generalist primary classrooms (SCSA, 2016), Visual Arts specialist teachers in the primary context were not the focus of this study. Instead, upper primary teachers were interviewed, to identify the extent to which they were capable of teaching Visual Arts curriculum and how they went about offering Visual Arts experiences to their students. It was presumed that those students who had the benefit of a primary Visual Arts specialist had more exposure and their skills were more pronounced by Year 7.
The research questions for this study were:
1. What do specialist Visual Arts teachers think of their Year 7 cohort’s skill-base? 2. How do upper primary generalist teachers, teaching in Perth’s eastern suburbs,
perceive Visual Arts skills are taught in their schools?
• What types of Visual Arts learning experiences are primary generalist teachers offering their students?
• How frequent are Visual Arts learning experiences occurring? • What resources and support do the teachers receive from the school?
These questions were guided by a bottom-up, emic approach to the study (Tracy, 2013), where the researcher approached the topic from an experienced perspective, with the intent to explore and discover the emerging themes by asking other like-minded specialists the aforementioned questions. This chapter aims to present the conclusions
drawn from the data collected, describing: the extent to which specialist Visual Arts teachers perceive a skill deficit in their Year 7 cohort, the deficiency of Visual Arts skills taught in primary school generalist classrooms, the types of learning experiences generalist teachers offer and the frequency of Visual Arts lessons and finally, resources and support offered by the schools to assist generalists in delivering Visual Arts
curriculum.
The themes that emerged from both primary generalist teacher interviews and secondary Visual Arts teacher interviews were found to be:
1. Visual Arts Deficit
a. Student experiences
b. Generalist teacher education in the Visual Arts 2. Visual Arts has a low value/status
These themes were prominent in the evidence gathered from the interviews. Both secondary Visual Arts teachers and primary generalists noted deficits in student experiences. This was in part due to the generalist teachers having a very limited skill set to draw on in the classroom. A general low value placed on Visual Arts in primary schools compounded this limited teacher skill set, with resource access being
problematic for most teachers, with other subject areas taking priority due to the school focus being directed to traditional literacies. The following provides more detail about these emerging themes.
Conclusion One: Visual Arts Deficit
The theme of a visual arts deficit responded to research questions:
1. What do specialist Visual Arts teachers think of their Year 7 cohort’s skill-base? 2. How do upper primary generalist teachers, teaching in Perth’s eastern suburbs,
perceive Visual Arts skills are taught in their schools?
Both primary and secondary teachers felt there was a deficit in primary school visual arts. Many of the primary teachers were limited in the range of visual arts experiences they could offer their students. They openly commented about using ‘how-to’ websites for quick, easy activities due to their limited access to resources or lack of knowledge in Visual Arts pedagogy. The primary teachers also found engaging students in rich visual arts experiences a somewhat difficult task. They found it challenging on a daily basis due to their own lack of personal experience in the Visual Arts, which was compounded
by a lack of: preparation time, resources and the fact the Visual Arts were not viewed as a school priority (Russell-Bowie, 2012).
Skills were limited to a small range materials (e.g., pencils, crayons, and paper) these basics art materials were easy to use, prepare and clean up, with many activities being integrated with other subjects. The Visual Arts were often used instrumentally to support other learning areas. In addition, the Visual Arts was not deemed important enough to be given a specific time-slot, unless the school had a specialist primary Visual Arts teacher employed to work with all the students.
Primary teachers believed they covered response tasks in their classroom adequately; however, when asked, they felt that responding mostly involved more informal discussion at the conclusion of tasks. Structured response in the form of a framework with scaffolding was not a common activity in the primary classroom. The main reason for this was teachers believed primary students were not developmentally capable of giving an informed response other than whether they liked or disliked something. When looking at child development associated with the Visual Arts, it was suggested by some participants that primary students were incapable of thinking in an abstract way. However, some participants did suggest that given enough structured experiences in a task or subject, primary students had the ability to understand complex visual concepts, and this can be nurtured and developed (Krause, Bochner, & Duchesne, 2003; Morris, 2015; Piaget, 1950).
Many of the primary teachers reported that they found it difficult to teach Visual Arts consistently in the class as a stand-alone subject. Many participants found teaching Visual Arts difficult without integration with other learning areas, because of time constraints. They had limited access to resources and this was also a discouraging factor when considering Visual Arts tasks. Most primary teachers allocated Visual Arts
learning to the end of the week; for example a Friday afternoon activity, which generally consisted of free time if no activity could be organised. It appeared that the pressures placed on primary teachers to achieve benchmark standards in literacy and numeracy took precedence over Visual Arts teaching and learning (Alter, Hays, & O’Hara, 2009). Most participants lacked knowledge about how Visual Arts education can provide academic success for students (Bamford, 2006; Ewing, 2010) and those that felt it held high importance felt powerless to change the situation in their own classroom due to the curriculum pressures of literacy and numeracy placed on their school.
In terms of assessment, it was discovered that although most teachers displayed good intentions, it was clear that they did not provide enough structure during Visual Arts activities to give clear guidelines regarding assessment. Most came down to effort and whether students were able to complete an activity or not. Others felt that teamwork was important as many of the art activities they provided involved group work. Following instructions was another point of assessment; although relevant, this notion was very general and could also be attributed to a wide range of learning areas. Nothing that could be specific to the Visual Arts s was assessed, which implied a lack of
understanding of exactly what it was they should have been assessing in the Visual Arts the first place. This is a concern, since SCSA (2016) expects that Visual and
Constructive knowledge be taught at Year 5 and Year 6 level in the generalist classroom. It is also an expectation for it to be reported on, which means that valid assessment needs to occur in line with other learning areas.
Students were keen to engage in Visual Arts lessons, as they were reported to be confident and happy to attempt most tasks. It was suggested that this was due to the Visual Arts having a novel appeal, and that many students had not often experienced Visual Arts. In particular, to the extent that it is taught in secondary schools; for
example, access to different materials, explicit teaching of skills, as well as an exposure to the language of Visual Arts. Transition for some students was reported as a problem (Berlach, Coffey & O’Neill, 2011); however, this was most likely due to typically linked to students dealing with the changes associated with shifting between a primary into a secondary context.
Secondary teachers perceived different levels of strengths and weaknesses in their Year 7 students, depending on the primary schools that were feeding into their secondary school; for example, whether the students had a primary Visual Arts specialist, or whether their generalist teacher attempted Visual Arts with their class. Drawing as a Visual Arts learning experience was perceived as a strength, due to this being a familiar activity for most students. Drawing using a variety of media other than pencils was not considered a strength, as many students were reported as having difficulty with new skills, as they were not comfortable to attempt activities outside what they found familiar. Students already had preconceived perceptions about what they could and couldn’t do, and the secondary specialists reported this was a common problem. The interview data emphasised a lack of authentic Visual Arts experiences associated with
the generalist classroom, thus contributing to a drop in confidence with some students (Dinham, 2013).
The Visual Arts language barrier was a particular issue, as reported by the majority of participants. Students were not ready to tackle the context of specific language of the Visual Arts and this was largely due to their lack of exposure to responding to Visual Art across the primary years. Year 7 students were able to recognise surface information when coached through a response task; however, their application of this language to other activities was perceived as being weak. Having an understanding of Visual language is an important skill in preparation for our 21st century workforce, having practical implications for understanding a wide range of platforms, innovative symbolic thinking, problem solving and being able to communicate in diverse ways (Choi & Piro, 2009; Dinham, 2013; Morris, 2015). If educating the whole person is to be a focus in primary schools, then Visual Arts language is a key component to curriculum, explained by The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians
(MCEETYA, 2008) and The National Review of Visual Education (2006).
Student readiness to engage in a range of studio materials was deemed to be hindered by a limited access to Visual Arts resources. Participants commented that students were not allowed to use certain materials due to mess in the generalist classroom, thus showing a considerable lack of access to appropriate areas to conduct certain
constructive tasks. This problem was compounded by a lack of time allocated to Visual Arts activities including time to clean-up, and therefore, full engagement. It was also revealed that if primary generalist teachers had a negative personal experience with Visual Arts, their classroom practice was also influenced. Often a teacher’s low self- efficacy suggested an increased potential to also encourage students to have a negative attitude towards Visual Arts. Perceived capabilities in subject areas define future
experiences and if they are negative, the cycle will not improve and continue to generate low self-efficacy, success and enjoyment (Bandura, 2012; Coffey, Berlach & O’Neill, 2011; Lummis & Morris, 2014).
Structure was an important factor in the Year 7 Visual Arts classroom, according to participants, if they were to have success. Sculptural tasks were weak in terms of specific studio strengths and weaknesses and this was largely due again to the lack of resources available to primary generalists. Two-dimensional expressive work (e.g., drawing) was widely considered a strength, since much of the Visual Art that students
were exposed to was in the form of ‘free-time’ on a Friday afternoon. This was mostly limited to drawing with lead and coloured pencils. Other forms of drawing as a result were not explored, such as attention to tonal work or detail. Secondary Visual Arts specialists were therefore making up for their lack of skill by utilising a structured task- by-task environment (Brown, Macintyre, & Watkins, 2012). The main reasons for students’ lack of exposure to build studio skills were due to the increased literacy and numeracy workload placed on generalist teachers, placing a limit on other parts of the curriculum (Codd, 2005).
Generalist teacher education in the Visual Arts
The theme of a generalist teacher education in the Visual Arts responded to research sub-questions:
• What types of Visual Arts learning experiences are primary generalist teachers offering their students?
• How frequent are Visual Arts learning experiences occurring?
Primary generalist teachers were found to have little in terms of qualifications or experience in teaching Visual Arts. Although they knew that Visual Arts had an
important place in the classroom, they did not have the knowledge of pedagogy to teach students in depth skills and techniques (Flockton & Crooks, 2008). Even those teachers who had an interest in the subject (n = 2) found it difficult to recall what they had actually completed in terms of units or classes at tertiary level, or experience in Visual Arts. All had completed their Primary Education Degree at a range of Universities in Western Australia and had minimal time learning about Visual Arts in a classroom environment. As a result, all teachers who participated in the interviews spoke about using social media as a resource for quick, simple and highly structured tasks to cover the Visual Arts curriculum in their class. If the project was not simple, with little preparation time and quick results, often teachers avoided the subject altogether due to their limited understanding of how to create an effective Visual Arts lesson (Lemon & Garvis, 2013). Due to the lack of tertiary education in Visual Arts and experiences since beginning their teaching profession, many teachers indicated they had low self-efficacy when it came to implementing Visual Arts in the curriculum (Lummis, Morris, & Paolino, 2014). This lack of perceived ability in teaching Visual Arts is compounded by the stress of a mandated curriculum, requiring generalists to teach Visual Arts in the classroom when a specialist is not available (ACARA, 2015).
In terms of ability to prepare their students for secondary Visual Arts, it was found that generalist teachers were not as capable as expected, according to the perceptions of the secondary Visual Arts teachers. All participants perceived that generalist teachers were ill equipped to prepare students for Visual Arts as a subject. Instead, art was considered fun, free time with no structure or appropriate learning of skills, demonstration of techniques and modelling language. The generalist teachers were described as scared and unable to take on the teaching of Visual Arts themselves without assistance. They were not appropriate substitutes for the unique skill set of the primary specialist Visual Arts teachers, who were rare in the system. They felt that Year 7 students presented with deficits as a direct result of the pressure generalists are faced with daily to ensure the valued curriculum is covered (i.e., NAPLAN - literacy and numeracy focused). They felt that the attitude amongst generalist teachers was that there was a stigma amongst those teachers who could teach Visual Arts and those who could not. This made it very difficult for the teachers as they were torn between knowing they had a responsibility to address Visual Arts in their classroom and failing due to their limited skill (i.e., low self-efficacy). If teachers themselves come from a background of
negative experience, it was found that this cycle, unless broken by positive experiences, continues. These pre-existing attitudes towards Visual Arts effect how the students perceive Visual Arts as a subject (Ashton, 1999; Bamford, 2002; Bandura, 2012; Bellisario & Donovan, 2012; Dinham, 2013; Lummis & Morris, 2014). According to secondary teachers, many students did not perceive Visual Arts as a credible school subject when they arrived in Year 7.
Conclusion Two: Visual Arts has a low value/status
The theme of Visual Arts having a low value/status responded to research sub-question: • What resources and support do the teachers receive from the school?
It was discovered that Visual Arts resources in generalist classrooms were very limited, and most had to make do with basics such as coloured paper, some paint and glue. It was difficult to maintain consistency with a program when most of the funds in a primary generalist teacher budget are spent on literacy and numeracy resources. Teachers were creative with what they had access too, which was rarely specialist Visual Arts materials. Unless students had a Specialist Visual Arts teacher taking them for classes, they were rarely exposed to much more than paint and pencils (i.e., 2D
expression). The resourcing in terms of programs was also problematic, as most turned to step-by-step guides or tried speaking to colleagues in the school for assistance if they had success with a project. One particular participant stated that even though her
knowledge of Visual Arts was limited, she would never bother asking for Professional Development in the Arts, as she was not a specialist in the field. It was simply not worth her time. It is evident through these results that generalists face challenges daily in the classroom in terms of creating authentic and challenging Visual Arts learning activities with what their school provides. To remedy this, integration of Visual Arts activities is a popular option, allowing teachers to cover Visual Arts through literacy or numeracy programs. This does not give Visual Arts as a stand-alone subject the attention and value it deserves and instead using it as fill in time with little educational substance or use (Dinham, 2013; Duncum, 1999).
Secondary Visual Arts specialists reported that as a subject, Visual Arts has a low status in primary schools. This judgement was made from the professional relationships that secondary specialists had with the primary schools in their area and the experiences in dealing with the students that arrived in their classrooms in Year 7. This idea was felt strongly by participants and went from one teacher describing Visual Arts, as a DOTT subject to another feeling that is was “the bottom of the cesspool” (Susan) in terms of subjects. It was not valued as a ‘real’ subject and as a result not treated as one.
Secondary teachers perceived that if generalists were teaching it at all it was treated as free time on a Friday afternoon, at the end of the week when the valued curriculum had already been covered. These negative beliefs in primary schools were fuelled by
negative experiences, which in turn, added to the low status of the subject (Garvis & Pendergast, 2010). Pre-existing attitudes towards the subject meant that it was not advocated for in primary schools and held a low status overall (Bandura, 2012; Bellisario & Donovan, 2012; Dinham, 2013). In terms of Visual Arts teachers
themselves, if the primary school actually had one (which in this case was uncommon), they were seen simply as DOTT providers or “optional extras” (Summer). Funding cuts across the board saw all the other subjects catered for before any consideration was